BEARVILLE — Pierce County scored in every inning ending the game in five innings here Friday against visiting Southeast Bulloch with an 11-1 victory.
The third-ranked Bears (7-2) rode the combined three-hit pitching of Emmitt Hall (4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 K, 0 BB, 1 HBP) and Kolton Brogdon, who worked a hitless fifth with two strikeouts, for the win over the Yellow Jackets (3-4), who have dropped three of their last four games.
Beck Hodges (2-for-4, two RBI), Jonathan Stone (2-for-2) and Grayson Arington (2-for-3, two RBI) paced the 10-hit attack with multi-hit games. Chance Williams (1-for-3), Christian Osbourne (1-for-3), Brantley Willis (1-for-2, two RBI) and pinch-hitter Garrett Stevenson (1-for-1) added a hit apiece.
PCHS scored a run in each of the first two innings in taking a 2-0 lead. Williams led off with a single, advanced to second on a one-out wild pitch, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a passed ball in the first inning.
Willis scored the second inning run after reaching on a one-out error. Arington’s two-out, bloop single kept the inning alive. Willis raced home from second when Williams’ ensuing grounder was thrown away for a 2-0 advantage.
After SEB scored on a two-out single in the top of the third cutting the lead to 2-1, the Bears erupted for six runs in the bottom of the frame to extend the lead out to 8-1.
A one-out double by Stone was followed by an infield hit by Osbourne and a walk to Johnson loading the bases. A walk to Willis forced home the first run.
Bryson Smith’s sacrifice bunt plated Osbourne’s courtesy runner, James Alonso, for a 4-1 lead. Arington followed with a fielder’s choice grounder scoring Johnson. Williams was hit by a pitch re-loading the bases.
After a passed ball scoring Willis for a 6-1 advantage, Hodges dropped a bloop single into center field driving home the final two runs for a sevenrun cushion.
Stone led off the fourth with a standup double and eventually scored on the first of three consecutive singles. Willis drove a single up the middle driving home stone. Stevenson’s pinch-hit single was followed by Arington’s bloop single for a 10-1 lead.
Hodges opened the bottom of the fifth with an infield hit. Stone was hit by a one-out pitch and Osbourne followed with a four-pitch walk, loading the bases.
SEB nearly got out of the inning unharmed. Pinch-hitter Gavin Schreiber’s sacrifice bunt retired Hodges at the plate, but the throw to first was wide, allowing Stone to score from second to have the “10-run mercy rule” end the game.
